approaching the airport on the 45 for
runway 32. I waited for a response, but
heard nothing. I scanned the immediate
area but I saw no other planes in any
direction.

Unwanted
Encounter
I thought I would share some of my
flying stories. This happened about
10 years ago, but it’s still fresh in my
memory. It was the day that I almost had
a twin as a hood ornament.
I had rented a Cessna 172 from the
local FBO at Reid Hillview airport in San
Jose, CA. It was kind of a clunker, but
the engine was strong, and the wings
seemed to be attached pretty well, so I
decided to head south for some landing
practice.

I scanned down below and located
the windsock so that I could verify the
wind direction. I saw that the direction
of the wind favored landing on runway
14. I changed course to fly parallel to
the runway so that I could enter the 45
for runway 14 and started my descent
to pattern altitude. As I entered the
downwind leg, I got on the radio again
and announced my position. At the
base turn I did the same. When I was
on final I yakked on the radio one final
time letting everyone in the area know
my position.
I greased the wheels on the runway,
applied full power, slowly removed
the flaps, and prepared to climb out. I
was just doing touch and goes. After
about five touch and goes, announcing
my position on the radio every time, I
prepared for my sixth landing.

About 20 miles South is an airport
known in the local pilot circles as South
County. I think it relates to the fact that
it is at the southern edge of Santa Clara
county, but I could be wrong about that.
It’s located right next to Highway 101 in
the city of San Martin.
The airport has a fair bit of local traffic,
but not enough to warrant a control
tower. As I got within a few miles of
the airport I dialed in the appropriate
frequency and announced that I was

104

PILOTMAG.com

I once again announced on the radio I
was downwind, turning base, and finally
on final. I was about 100 ft altitude,
airplane fully dirty (power off, flaps at
30 degrees, airspeed at 1.3Vso), when
I noticed something at the far end of
the runway. There was a medium size
twin engine plane landing the other way,
coming directly at me.
Luckily I didn’t hesitate, but jammed in
full power, slowly dumped

m ay / j u n e 2 0 1 0

the flaps, and started a climbing turn to
the right. At first the other pilot must not
have seen me, but when he did, it was
like he didn’t know which way to go. I
was taught to always go right, and that’s
what I did. The other guy jinked left,
right, left again, and finally turned right.
By this time I was away from the airport
and climbing, but it was still kind of
funny to watch.
Amazingly enough all of the sudden I
now hear someone on the radio asking
which runway was in use. Well imagine
that, now he wants to talk on the radio. I
didn’t get upset, though maybe I should
have, but told him that the windsock
favored 14. A few minutes later I see
him in the pattern lining up for 14. He
landed and parked his plane in one of
the tiedowns close to the runway. On
another practice landing I could see that
he was an elderly gentleman, alone in
the big twin.
On another flight when I landed at the
airport I talked to one of the locals,
and he said that there were a number
of “experienced pilots” that seemed
to disregard talking on the radio and
routinely made straight in approaches
to the runway from miles away. Not the
safest thing I’ve ever heard. n

» Paradise 1
Summer Plans?
As we all head towards summer we
all begin to make our flying adventure
plans. What trips are we going to take,
and where we are going to visit along
the way? Here at Paradise Ranch Resort
we are on our way to completion of our
Jack Nicklaus-Nicklaus II Championship course and have many homesites
and villas for sale. Yes, times are tough
but we are plugging away. Fly directly to
us and see our deals. Why not stop in
and say hi and see what we are up to?
Granted our Aviation Facilities are not
up yet, but we would be glad to meet
you plane side and bring you over ( 2
minute drive) to Paradise Ranch Resort
in Grants Pass, Oregon (3S8).
(Picture Taken Summer 2006) (Aviation
Facilities: Private Ramp,Hangar,Terminal will
be built)